Shoe cabinet



Aug. 12, 1941. H. DERMAN SHOE CABINET Fi1ed.July 14, 1959 \INVENTOR HARRY DER/WAN A'h'ORNE? Pate'nted Aug. 12, 1941 UTED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE CABINET Harry Derman, Laurelton, N. Y.

Application July 14, 1939, Serial No. 284,413

4 Claims.

This invention relates to cabinets which are designed primarily for the supporting of shoes to conceal the same as well as to protect the same from the collection of dust and dirt thereon; and the object of the invention is to provide a cabinet of the class described composed of detachably coupled casing and shelf parts thereby facilitating the compact shipment of the collapsed cabinet and further in simplifying the structure of the cabinet to facilitate the quick assemblage of the parts by the purchaser or consumer; a further object being to provide a cab inet of the character described wherein a plurality of shoe supporting shelves are disposed in vertically spaced relation within the cabinet, means being provided on the door frame of the cabinet for definitely locating and spacing the forward end portions of the shelves, the shelves being made of sufficient depth to fit only in an angular position within the cabinet, thus eliminating the use of cleats or other shelf supporting members, thereby simplifying the entire structure of the cabinet and providing for the free collapsing of the back and side wall parts thereof; a further object being to provide a cabinet of the character described wherein the front door frame portion includes as a unit part thereof a spring roller upon which a flexible door or closure member is mounted for slight vertical sliding movement in the door frame; a still further object being to provide in the lower portion of the door frame an independently sliding rigid door member for independently controlling the compartment at the lower portion of the cabinet; and with these and other objects in View the invention consists in a cabinet of the class and for the purpose specified, which is simple in construction, efficient in use, and which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a cabinet made according to my invention showing the flexible door in an open position.

Fig. 2 is a side and sectional view of the cabinet as seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail View of a part of the constructionas shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The cabinet forming the subject matter of this invention is, insofar as the outer structure thereof is concerned, substantially similar to that shown and described in a prior application filed by me April 5, 1939, Serial No. 266,069, of which this application constitutes a continuation in part. In the present construction, I provide a considerably smaller cabinet from the standpoint of width as well as height to adapt the same primarily for use in supporting a plurality of pairs of shoes in vertical arrangement in the upper portion of the cabinet. One pair of shoes is disposed upon each shoe supporting shelf employed, whereas the lower portion of the cabinet has a compartment for the reception of shoes or other articles of merchandise or apparel, admission to which is controlled by an independent bottom door.

The cabinet shown in the accompanying drawing for the purpose of illustrating one adaptation of the invention, comprises a unitary sheet of fibre board, corrugated board, or the like, folded to-form a back wall 5, side walls 6 and front wall portions 7 which are disposed only at the side of the front of the cabinet, and have chan-- neled rails 8 secured to and extending longitudinally of the free edges thereof. The rails; 8 have channels 9 on the inner exposed surfaces thereof. It will be understood that in the knockdown condition of the cabinet, the side walls 6' including the front wall portions I and strips 8 will be foldable upon the back wall 5, and the top wall I 0 and bottom wall Illa will be arranged upon these collapsed back and side walls.

The walls Ill, Illa are of substantially identical construction insofar as the general contour thereof is concerned; that is to say, each of the walls is provided with reinforcing flange strips ll extending around the periphery of said walls. The strips or rails II at the front of both top and bottom walls It, Illa have recesses adjacent the ends thereof for receiving upper and lower forked or channeled ends Ba of the strips 8. The outer side of the strips 8 terminate in alinement with the surfaces of the top and bottom walls, whereas the inner side terminates short of the top and bottom walls. The purpose of this construction is to clear the inturned flanges of the fibre board or other material forming the top and bottom walls proper.

The top and bottom walls It, I 0a differ from each other in that a spring roller is supported upon brackets l2 arranged upon the inner surface of the top wall upon which the flexible door member [3 is secured and wound; whereas the bottom wall has one part I4 of a catch device arranged on the front rail for engaging the other part l5 of the catch device on the bottom rail N5 of the bottom door ll, The upper rail l8 of the door has another catch device l9 secured thereto for engaging a companion catch device 28 on a reinforcing end rail or strip 2| at the free end of the door I4. This strip is recessed centrally to form a finger piece facilitating the operation of the door. The top wall further contains a decorative member Ila which is secured to the front reinforcing strip II and is substantially the same material used in the strip H.

The door l3 including the strip 2| and the door ll including the strips I6 and I8 are all slidably mounted in the grooves or channels 9 of the rails 8 in the movement of said doors separately or collectively in the cabinet. The grooves 9 open to the upper and lower ends of the strips 8, and these grooves are closed by the rails H or the recessed portions thereof. The rails 8 are also recessed as seen at 22 in Fig. 2 of the drawing to open into the cabinet at the top thereof to admit the flexible door 13 into the grooves or channels 9. The surface of the recessed portion 22 of the rails 8 is rounded to provide free movement of the door i3 into and out of the channels as will be apparent.

The shelf supporting member 23 which is secured to the back portion of the strip 8 is provided with longitudinally spaced angular notches 24, note Fig. 3, which serve as front supports for the shoe supporting shelves. The angle used in notching said members is such as to insure easy installationof the shelves. It must be clearly understood, however, that any number of notches 24 may be employed to provide for variable spacing of the shelves.

The shelf members are constructed of a unitary sheet of fibre board 25, corrugated board or the like, which is provided with reinforcing strips 26 extending around and secured to the peripheral edges thereof. The front edge of the shelf is further reinforced by a tape 21 or similar material, which preferably should be of the color used on the other reinforcing members of the cabinet, The depth of the shelf should be longer than the distance between the shelf supporting members 23 and the rear wall of the cabinet so that the shelf can only be fitted into the cabinet in an inclined position, with the rear wall thus forming the rear support for the shelf. Secured to the top portion of the shelf member is a suitable strip 28 which acts as the support for the heel of the shoe so placed upon the shelf.

The above mentioned shelves do not extend below the upper portion of the lower door H, the remaining portion 2 9 being available for various other articles, such as hats, boots or the like.

It will be understood that the door l3 including the strip 2|, which is secured to the free end of the door normally constitutes a unit part of the top wall structure, that is to say, in the packing and shipment thereof. In assembling the cabinet, the unit comprising the back, side and front wall parts, including the rails 8, is first mounted upon thebottom wall Illa, after which the bottom door I! is arranged in position. Thereafter, the top wall It] is arranged in position, in which operation the door l3 is partially extended and moved into the channel 9 of the rail 8 in a manner which is clearly apparent.

The upper and lower corners of the front wall portions 1 are attached to the strip 8 at the forked or channeled endsSa thereof. In moving upper and lower ends of the cabinet, these corners are flexed inwardly, this flexure being suflicient to receive the front rails or reinforcing strips H of said top and bottom walls. It will be understood in this connection that the free edges of the front wall part I fit into channels in the strips 8 which are partially in alinement with the channel ends 8a of the strips. Therefore it is desirable to flex the corners of the front Wall portions 1 inwardly so as to provide, not only a strong construction, but also a tight fit so that the cabinet may be sealed as much as possible throughout its entirety. The top shelf should then be installed, fitting the front or tape portion of the shelves into the notches 24 of the shelf supporting members 23. Subsequently the other shelves may be installed in the next lower notch.

After the top wall H] has been fully assembled and the several walls secured together by fastening devices, as for example nails or screws, the door l3 may then be moved downwardly and be coupled with the door I! through the couplings i9, 20.

In the use of the cabinet it will be understood that the door l3 may be raised and lowered in the cabinet independent of the door I! by detaching the couplings as at I9 and 20 and maintaining the couplings I l, l5 closed. On the other hand, by maintaining the couplings I9, 20 in engaged position and detaching the couplings l4, I5, both doors may be collectively raised in a manner which is clearly apparent, for the purpose of gaining access to the bottom portion of the cabinet.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A collapsible shoe cabinet of the class described comprising a unitary wall part having foldable rear and side walls and narrow front wall portions at the forward edges of the side walls, top and bottom walls detachable from said first named walls, vertical rails permanently secured to free edges of said narrow front wall portions and collapsible with the walls of said unitary wall part, elongated shelf supporting strips permanently fixed to rear surfaces of said rails and extending longitudinally thereof in spaced relation to the side walls of the cabinet when in set-up position, said vertical rails being spaced apart at the front of the cabinet to form a large door opening, said strips having on inner surfaces thereof transverse notches spaced longitudinally of the strips, each of said notches being inclined upwardly and inwardly, shelf members having a depth greater than the distance betweenthe notched portions of the strips and the inner surface of the rear wall and a width greater than the distance between the strips on opposed rails of the cabinet, and said notches in conjunction with the rear wall of the cabinet supporting the shelf members in upwardly inclined position.

2. A collapsible shoe cabinet of the class described comprising a unitary wall part having foldable rear and side walls and narrow front wall portions at the forward edges of the side Walls, top and bottom walls detachable from said first named walls, vertical rails permanently secured to free edges of said narrow front wall portions and collapsible with the walls of said unitary wall part, elongated shelf supporting strips permanently fixed to rear surfaces of said rails and extending longitudinally thereof in spaced relation to the side walls of the cabinet when in set-up position, said vertical rails being spaced apart at the front of the cabinet to form a large door opening, said strips having on inner surfaces thereof transverse notches spaced longitudinally of the strips, each of said notches being inclined upwardly and inwardly, shelf members having a depth greater than the distance between the notched portions of the strips and the inner surface of the rear wall and a width greater than the distance between the strips on opposed rails of the cabinet, said notches in conjunction with the rear wall of the cabinet supporting the shelf members in upwardly inclined position, said shelf members each comprising a rectangular frame, an upper cover sheet secured to said frame, and said frame including said sheet fitting snugly in the notches of said strips.

3. A collapsible shoe cabinet of the class described comprising a unitary wall part having foldable rear and side Walls. and narrow front wall portions at the forward edges of the side Walls, top and bottom walls detachable from said first named walls, vertical rails permanently secured to free edges of said narrow front wall portions and collapsible with the walls of said unitary wall part, elongated shelf supporting strips permanently fixed to rear surfaces of said rails and extending longitudinally thereof in spaced relation to the side walls of the cabinet when in set-up position, said vertical rails being spaced apart at the front of the cabinet to form a large door opening, said strips having on inner surfaces thereof transverse notches spaced longi- 'tudinally of the strips, each of said notches being inclined upwardly and inwardly, shelf members having a depth greater than the distance between the notched portions of the strips and the inner surface of the rear wall and a width greater than the distance between the strips on opposed rails of the cabinet, said notches in conjunction with the rear wall of the cabinet supporting the shelf members in upwardly inclined position, inner opposed surfaces of said vertical rails having channels extending longitudinally thereof, and a door or closure slidably engaging the channels of said rails controlling the door opening of said cabinet.

4. A collapsible shoe cabinet of the class described comprising a unitary wall part having foldable rear and side walls and narrow front wall portions at the forward edges of the side walls, top and bottom walls detachable from said first named walls, vertical rails permanently secured to free edges of said narrow front wall portions and collapsible with the walls of said unitary wall part, elongated shelf supporting strips permanently fixed to rear surfaces of said rails and extending longitudinally thereof in spaced relation to the side wallsof the cabinet when in set-up position, said vertical rails being spaced apart at the front of the cabinet to form a large door opening, said strips having on inner surfaces thereof transverse notches spaced longi tudinally of the strips, each of said notches being inclined upwardly and inwardly, shelf members having a depth greater than the distance between the strips on opposed rails of the cabinet, said notches in conjunction with the rear wall of the cabinet supporting the shelf members n upwardly inclined position, inner opposed surfaces of said vertical rails having channels extending longitudinally thereof, a door or closure slidably engaging the channels of said rails controlling the door opening of said cabinet, another door slidably engaging the channels of said rails, means coupling the last named door with the first named door, and means for retaining the last named door against sliding movement in the channels of said rails.

HARRY DERMAN. 

